Sick chicken????

[kellbellsa]

Hi, my name is Kelly and I am a first time chicken owner. we have 15 chickens. (Plymouth Rocks, Buff Orppingtons, Rhode Island Reds and 1 white leghorn.).

we have a few concerns that have come up. We noticed that all of them are getting bald spots and have witnessed a few eating the feathers off of the others. No signs of mites that I can see. Just pulling I think. Then today, when we let them out to free range, one was super slow, if not completely motionless. She was puffing up her feathers which are looking pretty bad anyway. She pooped, but I'm not sure how to tell if it's diarreah ( it's bird poop for crap sake). She has a scab on her underbelly about the size of a nickel (in one of the bald spots like she has been bit there) that does not look infected. I also noticed another lively hen with the same kind of scab. We have quarantined her just in case.

Any ideas on what it could be? We are so new to this.

Kelly

 

[Pyxis]

Feather eating can be a sign of lack of protein in their diet, so you might try offering some protein rich foods and see if that helps with that problem. You might also want to go ahead and treat for mites. Some mites only get on the birds at night, then retreat back to hiding in the coop during the day, so if you're looking at the birds in the day, you might not see any mites while the birds might indeed have some. It can't hurt and it might help.

 

[kellbellsa]

What do you do for mites?

 

[Pyxis]

For mites I would use Sevin garden dust, which can be found in the garden section of places like Tractor Supply or walmart. You use it to dust the birds. The easiest way to dust them is to make a powder puff out of a pair of old nylons by cutting the foot off and filling it with the powder. Dust them all down and then you need to really deep clean the coop and use something on it for the mites too. You can use the Sevin dust but you might find Permethrin liquid easier to use, since you can spray it into all the nooks and crannies. You can find that also at Tractor Supply. Then you need to repeat it all in seven days to kill all the new mites that will have hatched since the first treatment, and then maybe one more time for good measure seven days after that.

After treating, for preventative measures you can add DE to their coop bedding and to their dusting areas, and provide wood ash for them to dust bathe in. I've never used DE so I can't say how well it works, but others swear by it as a preventative. It doesn't work to get rid of an infestation, however, so it's strictly a preventative thing.

 

[drumstick diva]

Welcome to Backyard chickens. Your store should have products for mites. I've never found DE to do anything.

 

[kellbellsa]

Thank you. We'll try all of this. She is also, pulsing. Could she be egg bound?

 

[Pyxis]

It's possible. If you think she's egg bound you can give her a warm bath - just fill a sink or tub with warm water high enough to come up over her vent and let her soak in there. It will relax her muscles and sometimes this gets them to pass an egg if they are egg bound.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you.

I'm sorry to hear about your sick hen! I suggest posting in the Emergencies section for more answers, if you haven't already: Emergencies / Diseases / Injuries and Cures

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Excellent advice has been given by Pyxis.